Shoe-polisher.



C. D. WATKINS.

SHOE POLISHER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 14, 1915.

1 173,692. Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

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SHOE-PQLISHER.

Application filed April 14, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLEs D. VVATKINs, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe- Polishers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to shoe polishers, and particularly to shoe polishers of the character illustrated in the patent granted to me on the 23rd day of February, 1915, No. 1,129,257.

The primary object of the present invention is to improve upon the construction illustrated in said patent by providing simple means for'retaining the polishing cloth in place upon the body of the polisher, simplifying the means whereby the resilient supporting plate is contracted to thereby draw the polishing cloth tight thereon, and in other ways reducing the cost and increasing the efliciency of the polisher.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line AA of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the polishing pad, looking toward one end; Fig. 4 is an end view of the plate 2; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view through the pad; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one end of the plate; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of one end of the pad showing the clip applied thereto; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view of one end of the lever.

Referring to these figures, 2 designates a supporting plate of relatively thin resilient material having upwardly turned angular ends 3, the plate adjacent these terminations being formed with transversely extending inwardly bent semi-circular beads 4 and the material of the plate at the ends of these beads being cut away, as at 5.

Adapted to be detachably secured upon the outer face of the supporting plate 2 is a polishing pad, designated generally 6. This pad is formed of an outer layer of felt, or other cloth or fabric adapted for polishing shoes, this felt or other fabric being desig nated 7. An inner layer of buckram 8 is attached in any suitable manner to the outer layer of felt, and preferably disposed upon the buckram layer and the felt layer is an Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

Serial No. 21,362.

intermediate layer of cushioning pasteboard 6 comprising two parallel sheets of thin board with a corrugated sheet interposed between them. The felt layer 7 extends beyond the buckram layer 8 and the pasteboard layer 6", and the sides of the felt layer are folded over, as at 9.

Clips 10 are applied to the ends of the cushion, these clips consisting of an approximately S-shaped strip of material, one fold of which is bent down tight upon the plies of material forming the cushion, and the other fold of which is extended and angularly bent, as at 11, to provide a lip, a transversely extending seat 12 being so formed in the clip for the reception of the adjacent upwardly extending end of the supporting plate 2, as shown clearly in Fig. 7

It will be obvious that when the polishing pad is applied to the supporting strip 2, the bending inward of the end portions 3 of the strip will cause the pad to tighten upon the strip so that the pad will be securely held thereon. For the purpose of thus bending in the end portions 3 of the supporting strip, 1 provide the levers 13 and 14. Each of these levers is formed of a single piece of wire bent upon itself to provide parallel legs 15, these legs being angularly bent, as at 16, at an angle to the plane of the legs, then extended upward and laterally outward, as at 17, and then re-bent upon themselves, as at 18, to em brace the adjacent end of the strip; The curved portions 17 fit within the notches 5 formed in the side edges of the strip, and the outer ends of the wire forming the levers are supported in the concave face of the bead 4, as shown clearly in Fig. 1.

Both of the handle levers 13 and 1 1 are alike as far as described, but they differ from each other in that the legs of the handle lever 14: are provided adjacent the upper ends of the bends 16 with the out wardly projecting bends 19 forming laterally projecting lugs, and they further differ from each other in that the handle lever lat is widened toward its free end so as to be greater'in width at this end than the width between the legs of the handle lever 13.

With the parts as heretofore described, the operation of the invention will be entirely clear from the drawings. In order to apply the pad the handle levers 13 and 14: are opened, thus leaving the supporting plate free to be flexed. The clips 10 are then disposed upon the ends of the plate 2, the ends of the plate extending into the seats 12 of the clips. In order now to strain or tighten the polishing strip or pad upon the supporting plate, the lever 1% is first turned down to the position shown in Fig. 1, and then the lever 15 is turned down, the side legs of the lever being expanded slightly so as to pass over the lugs 19 and lock beneath these lugs. The turning downward of the handle levers 13 and 14: causes the lower ends of the angular bends 16 to engage with the plate 2 and fulcrum thereagainst, and this causes the outer ends of the levers to draw the end portions of the plate 2 toward each other, straining or tightening the fabric forming the pad. With the levers in the position shown in Fig. 1, a handle is formed whereby the polisher may be readily manipulated.

It will, of course, be .understoodthat the polishing pad is of slightly greater length and width than the supporting plate 2 so that the edges of the pad .will cover the structed as above described may be very cheaply made, very simply applied, and is thoroughly effective for the purpose intended.

The polishing pad may be readily re moved or replaced when it is desired to renew the pad, or various forms of polishing pads might be used for different articles and applied upon the same support, Ihe pad may be permanently attached to the plate 2, if desired, by upsetting the middle of the plate and of the strip 10, as at 20, thus positively preventing any lateral movement of the pad relative to the plate. It will of course be obvious that I may use various materials for forming the polishing pad 6, andl have found in practice that fur, as for instance bearskin, is particularly good for this purpose.

Having thus described my invention,

what I claim is:

1. A shoe polisher including a supporting plate having upturned ends, a polishing pad having clips at its extremities detachably engaging the ends of the plate, and

means for straining the ends of the plate toward each other to thereby tighten the pad upon the plate.

2. In a shoe polisher, a resilient supporting plate having upturned ends, a pad therefor, and flexing levers coacting one with each end of the plate, each lever at its end having oppositely disposed plate embracing portions, the intermediate portion of the lever having an extension forming a fulcrum and bearing against the inside face of the plate adjacent its end, the plate upon its outside face being formed with a seating bead in which said plate'embracing portion of the lever rests.

A shoe polisher comprising a'resilient supporting plate having upturned ends, a polishing pad adapted to be disposed against'the outer face of the plate and having clips attached to the ends thereof, said clips each having a recess or seat adapted to slip over the adjacent upturned end of the'plate, and means for strainingthe' ends of the plate toward each other to thereby tighten the pad upon the plate. 7 I

-.L. In a shoe polisher, a resilient. supporting plate having upturned ends, said ends each being formed with a transversely ex tending inwardly bent bead and with notches in the ends of the head, a pad having clips at its ends adapted to be detachably engaged with the extremities of the supporting plate, and straining levers, each lever being formed of a length of wire bent at its middle to provide two approximately parallel legs, then angularly offset to provide a fulcrum adapted to engage with the inner face of the plate, then upwardly and outwardly bent and then inwardly bent to provide a plate embracing portion adapted to be inserted in said notches and the head.

5. In a shoe polisher of the character described, a supportingmember and a ,pad mounted upon the supporting member, said pad comprising an innerply, an outer ply of polishing material, and a cushioning layer disposed between inner and outer plies, said layer comprising spaced sheets of pasteboard and a corrugated sheet disposed between the spaced sheets.

Intestimony whereof'l hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of-two witnesses.

CHARLES D. WVATKINb. lVitnesses PATRICK J. FARRELL, WALTER YoUNeMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents. each, by addressing the Commissioner 10f Patents, Washington, D. G. 

